Page 2/The Battalion/Friday, September 20, 1985
Opinion
Ifs about time
After years of deliberation, the fatal Luther Street crossing fi
nally will be closed. It’s about time.
A year ago today Texas A&M student Katherine Hossley died in
a train-related accident at the Luther Street crossing in College Sta
tion. The following night, Lynn Cash McDonald, another A&M stu
dent, was killed in a similar accident at the same intersection. The ac
cidents sparked controversy in the community and a lawsuit on
behalf of McDonald’s parents.
The City of College Station requested, even before the deaths,
that the Luther intersection be closed and Holleman Road be ex
tended across the tracks. But first they had to have the permission of
the railroads. The closing of the crossing wasn’t a priority for the
Missouri Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. The deaths made
the railroads take notice of the deadly situation on Luther Street.
Despite the attention, little has been done by the city or the rail
roads over the past year to improve the dangerous situation at the
intersection.
The crossing remains poorly marked and no safety devices have
been installed. Although the bushes around the crossing were
trimmed right after the accidents, they have not been maintained. By
the end of the summer they had returned to their original height.
Visibility, even when the bushes are trimmed, is still poor.
Finally, action will be taken.
Working together, the railroads and the City of College Station
plan to close the Luther Street crossing by February and extend Hol
leman Road across the tracks. The new crossing is to be properly
marked and visibility in the area made much better.
It’s good to see measures being taken to make the crossing safer. It is
unfortunate that two people had to die to make the problem a prior
ity.
The Battalion Editorial Board
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Dear fellow stu
dent, I’d like to test
your knowledge.
You’ve probably
read more about
South Africa in re
cent weeks than any single class subject
detailed in your dust-gathering text
books. At least you’re up on the big is
sues of the day.
You know that 25 million blacks and
4 million whites live in South Africa,
and the whites have imposed a system
called “apartheid” that draws racial lines
of division between the country’s inhab
itants. Pictures of blacks setting fire to
Indians’ homes and cars have filled your
news magazines, along with facts that
600 blacks have been killed. President
Reagan has reluctantly applied eco
nomic sanctions against South Africa,
and you’ve heard his critics say he went
too far or not far enough. You are fully
aware that the blacks can’t vote, and
K aGay
>lumnht
their governmental system runs counter
to the Western standards.
Most likely you don’t hold the news
media in the highest esteem, and some
times you are downright suspicious. So
let’s take a look at what most journalists
overlook.
South Africa is one of the world’s two
self-sufficient countries in mineral de
posits. The other country is the Soviet
Union. Ninety percent of all strategic
minerals come from either racially-dis
turbed South Africa or our Cold War
contenders.
The world’s largest known deposits of
chrome, manganese, vanadium and
fluorspar andalusite are found within
South Africa’s borders. The country ex
ports more gem diamonds than any
other country, along with 70 percent of
the free world’s gold. But the Kruger
rand must take a back seat to South Af
rica’s treasure of chrome and man
ganese, upon which the world depends
for 81 percent and 78 percent of those
minerals respectively.
While digesting these vital statistics,
please consider South Africa’s strategic
location. The Cape of Good Hope is
rounded by pearly 26,000 ships each
year, making this ocean pathway the site
of the world’s heaviest traffic. Europe
looks to this “Lifeline of the West” for
80 percent of its oil, 25 percent of its
food supply and 70 percent of NATO
nations’ strategically important miner
als. One-fourth of America’s oil travels
by way of the Cape, which is passed by
32 oil tankers daily.
Any nation contemplating world con
trol must first subdue South Africa.
The headlines of Tuesday’s Battalion
read “South Africa strikes rebels across
border.” According to the text of the
story, Angola’s Marxist government
serves as a home base for South-West
African guerrillas, who are fighting a
19-year war to dissect the mineral-rich
territory known as Namimbia from
South Africa. Twenty-five thousand Cu
ban troops also share Angola’s hospital
ity with the guerrillas of the South-West
Africa People’s Organization. When you
consider that 10,000 of these guerrillas
have been killed in this war, the death
toll of 600 requires re-examination.
What about this notion of majority
rule? On the surface, it seems rea
sonably plausible. However, South Af
rica is not divided into just blacks and
whites. It is a nation of minorities. Com
munities with diverse languages, cul
tures, religions and economies shoulder
one another, causing the Washington
Post to describe South Africa as “the
most vital and ambitious social labo
ratory in the world.” Every group seeks
survival and therefore is dependent on
its neighbor.
Millions of blacks don’t want to line
up with other blacks or major tribes.
Majority rule holds no benefit 1°^ ? r me
them. Only about half of aU AfricajR,?’,
! . . Itudnits hi
tions may claim to nave aiajorm* tam b a
the\ profess no forrot in nrnnellp
now, and tltey pioiess no tom ( In propelle
mocracy. As for the United XatiMluction
which has repeatedly condemned dures.
Africa, merely 20 percent of its rad
states have democratic majority rule.L
Since 1952, 55 coups detailR^^
stirred up the African continentjR^J.
tary dictatorships and civilian onefj
states dominate Africa’s governniti|
making you wonder if potential dens I g t
racy would be followed by disastrous I ^
stability. I
South Africa’s interests are ourint| st y ear 1
ests, for the United States c 0 uldl Se ™g s 2
wage a prolonged war without a ■, n j t j ()n c
supply line flowing steadily from Sol
Af rica. Similar arguments for overwlisplannir
ing South Africa’s governmentwertBto reach i
fective against Rhodesia in 1980. lization I
Zimbabwe now, and it’s Marxist.
Well opei
Cynthia Gay is a junior journalism |er organi;
jor and a staff writer for The Battal<W ns sa id-
Btion.”
U.S. corporations don’t want to abandon their money
“If anything is
certain to destroy
our free society, to
undermine its
very foundations,
it would be a wide
spread acceptance
by management of
social responsibi-
lites in some sense
other; than to Pallmey©r
make as much > ——
money as possible. This is a fundamen
tally subversive doctrine. ”
Milton Friedman, economist and
Newsweek columnist, made that
statement in 1958. Friedman is saying
that the sole purpose of big business is
to make tons of money despite the con
sequences it may have on others. It
seems as if many American corporations
practice the Friedman doctrine.
There are about 300 American cor
porations that have investments in
South Africa. These corporations are
obviously interested in making money.
These corporations obviously don’t care
about the effects their investments have
on the majority of the people in South
Africa. These corporations obviously
don’t care that their investments are be
ing used by the white minority in South
Africa to deny the black majority basic
civil rights.
Apartheid is a political, social and
economic system of segregation and dis
crimination against non-white people of
South Africa: Apartheid is enforced by
a system of laws that prevent blacks and
other non-whites, about 70 percent of
the population, in South Africa from
enjoying basic civil rights.
Because of apartheid, blacks cannot
vote or run for office. Because of apart
heid blacks are not considered legal citi
zens of South Africa and are required to
carry pass books when traveling from
one place to another. Because of apart
heid blacks cannot hold meetings or
even publically speak out against the
government. Because of apartheid
blacks cannot own land and are required
to live in certain area called “home
lands.” These “homelands” are made up
out of only 13 percent of the land — the
most barren and desolate land in the
Country. Because of apartheid blacks
don’t get paid as much as whites while
the blacks are vital to the industries of
South Africa.
The reason the South African gov
ernment can oppress and subjugate so
many of their people is power. The
South African government has political
power because of 300 years of white
rule. The South African government
has economic power because South Af
rica is one of the world’s richest sources
of minerals which are vital to many na-
tions’-strategic defense systems.
The United States and many Amer-
cian corporations trade items that the
South African government needs to get
these minerals.. Until recently it seemed
as if the United States and Amercian
corporations didn’t care if blacks were
used almost like slaves to get the miner
als out of the ground and process them
into usable forms. Until recently it
seemed as if the United States and
American corporations didn’t care
about anything as long as they got what
they wanted.
Last week President Reagan ordered
the implementation of most of the anti
apartheid provisions in a bill that Con
gress probably would have passed over
his veto. Reagan’s order will ban com
puter exports to the South African mili
tary and law enforcement agencies,
block the sale of nuclear technology,
prohibit U.S. banks from lending
money to the South African govern
ment unless the funds are used to help
blacks and ban the importation of Krug-
gerrands.
. . . the sole purpose of big busi
ness is to make tons of money
despite the consequences it may
have on others — Milton Fried
man
Reagan wasn’t doing anything brave
or original, he was trying to save face by
not having Congress pass sanctions over
his veto. But maybe his order will do
some good. Maybe this order will show
the South African government that they
need us as much as we need them.
Maybe this order will show the South
African government that the American
people will not tolerate something as
evil as apartheid.
After Reagan’s announcement many
companies decided to divest their funds
in South Africa. Because Reagan has
such an influence on big business many
corporations have decided to abandon
the Friedman doctrine and follow Rea
gan’s lead. The money these corpora
tions were losing due to the current eco
nomic situtation in South Africa may
have had a larger influence on their de
cision to divest.
Reagan’s order has come under fire
from many of his old friends who be
lieve that imposing sanctions against
South Africa is wrong. These critics say
that without investments in South Af
rica we have no right to tell them what
to do and that apartheid can only be
stopped by working with their govern
ment. We have been “working” to end
apartheid with the South African gov
ernment for quite a long time now —
that was Reagan’s “constructive en
gagement” program. Constructive en-.
gagement has proven to be ineffectual,
so the time has come for stronger meth
ods.
Some people say that the blacks in
South Africa don’t deserve the right to
representation. These people claim that
the blacks belong to too many different
tribes, come from such diverse cultures,
hold many different religous and politi
cal beliefs and are not unified in their
cause. The “majority,” meaning most, of
the South African people have no voice
in the government that rules over them.
Our government is set up to represent
the wishes of the majority and to protect
the rights of the minority.
By the way if you want to see how a
group of people that comes from many
different tribes, many diverse cultures
and holds many different religous and
political beliefs can rule themselves, take
a look at our nation.
Some people say that America will
lose the valuable South African minerals
to the Soviets if we don’t take care in our
polcibs in South Africa. That is true.
If we are not careful and if we don’t
help the South African people, bla^k
and white, get together and work for a
mutually beneficial government, the So
viets will take advantage of the internal
strife and begin to help the subjugated
i i i • IA Safew;
people overthrow their oppresT^ wro j
When that new South African go'ijto a Battalio
ment takes power they will renin cf on Saf
who helped them and who helped lopping n
former oppressors. Bibushed ir
Friedman believes the sole purpoR° rrect *j
big business is to make tons of^
despite the consequences it may hanL ( ree (
others. Big business and the Ament | Th e arl j c
people must realize that if they don’t'
with a conscience, they stand toloseJ
more than money.
lustomers
Worth of To
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior joi
major and a columnist for The Bt!|
ion.
The Battalion
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Southwest Journalism Conference
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Rhonda Snider, Editor
Michelle Powe, Managing Editor
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Karen Bloch, City Editor
John Hallett, Kay Mallett, News Editors j
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
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